Former UFC interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin has officially hung up his 4XL gloves and called it a career.
Carwin began his career with a record of 12-0, all 12 of those fights ending by way of the finish. After finishing Frank Mir at UFC 111 in New Jersey to claim the UFC interim belt, Carwin would unify the titles with then champ Brock Lesnar during the summer of '10 in what would be one of the most anticipated heavyweight battles of all-time. Carwin would drop Lesnar and land enough unanswered strikes to force just about any other fight to be stopped. In the second round Lesnar would take advantage of a fighter that had nothing left in the tank, finishing Carwin by way of the arm triangle choke. It would go down as one of the greatest comebacks of all-time, only to be followed by the Silva vs. Sonnen instant classic at UFC 117 the following month.
'The Engineer' would get another chance to earn a shot at the title against Junior dos Santos the following year. Dos Santos would wreak havoc on the face of Carwin taking home a unanimous decision victory. Carwin showed he had a huge fighting heart in the fifteen minutes he shared inside of the cage with Dos Santos to go along with the tenacity he displayed in his first 12 finishes.
A fight between Shane Carwin and Roy Nelson would be made on more than one occasion; the two men would even coach opposite each other on season 16 of TUF. Today's decision wasn't for lack of trying; various injuries and surgeries would continue to sideline Carwin, and at the age of 38 he would announce his retirement from the sport on everyone's favorite social media platform.
Officially retired 2day:-) thank you to my family, friends and fans! #dreambig GOD BLESS!!!
— Shane Carwin (@ShaneCarwin) May 8, 2013

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